Day 9 · A1 · Lesson 9
Introduce yourself
Put Days 1 to 8 together into a real self-introduction: your name, age, nationality, where you're from and where you live, your job, and the languages you speak. Plus the two classic traps: jobs take no article, and nationalities change for women.
Cold guess
Before any rules, pick the version that sounds right. Your score is private. You'll get a fresh set at the end to compare.
I'm a student.
She's Canadian.
He's Italian.
I come from Paris.
I live in Toronto.
I speak English.
She's French.
She's Greek.
What do you do for a living?
Belgian, for a woman:
Score: / 10
Why it matters
Almost every French conversation, and almost every French speaking exam, starts the same way: Présentez-vous (introduce yourself). The good news is that you already have every piece. Lessons 3 to 8 gave you greetings, être, avoir, articles and numbers. Today you assemble them.
Two classic slips give away an English speaker in the first ten seconds:
Je suis un professeur.
Je suis professeur.
French treats a job like a description of you, so no "a".
Elle est canadien.
Elle est canadienne.
Nationalities change for a woman, and you can hear it.
Fix those two, and your introduction will sound natural from the very first sentence.
Building your introduction
1. The seven-line template
| What | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Je m'appelle… | Je m'appelle Alex. |
| Age | J'ai … ans. | J'ai vingt ans. |
| Nationality | Je suis + nationality | Je suis canadienne. |
| Where you're from | Je viens de + place | Je viens de Moncton. |
| Where you live | J'habite à + city | J'habite à Montréal. |
| Job | Je suis + job | Je suis étudiante. |
| Languages | Je parle… | Je parle anglais et un peu français. |
Je viens de (I come from) uses the verb venir, and j’habite (I live) uses habiter. You’ll meet their full conjugations in later lessons; for now, learn these two forms as chunks.
2. Nationalities for men and women
Nationalities are describing words, so they match the person, just like fatigué / fatiguée in Lesson 4. Most follow one of four patterns:
| Pattern | Masculine → feminine | What you hear |
|---|---|---|
| add -e | français → française · anglais → anglaise · américain → américaine · mexicain → mexicaine · allemand → allemande · chinois → chinoise · québécois → québécoise | the silent last letter wakes up: fran-say → fran-sez, a-may-ree-kan → a-may-ree-ken |
| -ien → -ienne | canadien → canadienne · italien → italienne · indien → indienne · brésilien → brésilienne · vietnamien → vietnamienne | the nasal switches off: ka-na-dyan → ka-na-dyen |
| already ends in -e | belge · suisse · russe · britannique | no change at all |
| special | grec → grecque · turc → turque | "grek" and "türk" in both |
Remember Lesson 2’s capital-letter rule: the describing word is lowercase (elle est française), the person is a noun with a capital (c’est une Française), and the language is lowercase and masculine (le français).
3. Jobs, without the article
After je suis, tu es, il est, a job (or being a student, or retired) takes no article:
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|
| étudiant | étudiante | student |
| infirmier | infirmière | nurse |
| enseignant | enseignante | teacher |
| avocat | avocate | lawyer |
| vendeur | vendeuse | salesperson |
| serveur | serveuse | server, waiter |
| cuisinier | cuisinière | cook |
| ingénieur | ingénieure | engineer |
| médecin, comptable, dentiste | same word | doctor, accountant, dentist |
| retraité | retraitée | retired |
The feminine patterns are the ones from Lesson 5 (clue 3). The article comes back in two situations: after c’est (c’est un infirmier), and when you add a describing word, where c’est is the natural choice: c’est un bon infirmier, c’est une excellente cuisinière.
To say where you work, use je travaille dans + a place: Je travaille dans un hôpital, dans une école, dans un restaurant.
4. Where you’re from, and where you live
Je viens de Toronto.
Je viens d'Ottawa.
De becomes d' before a vowel.
J'habite à Montréal.
J'habite à Québec.
Cities always take à.
Countries and provinces take different little words (au Canada, en France, au Québec). That has its own lesson (Lesson 27), but one Canadian distinction is worth knowing now: à Québec means Québec City, while au Québec means the province.
5. Languages
Je parle + the language, in lowercase, usually with no article: Je parle anglais. (Je parle le français is also correct, and stresses that you master the language in general, but je parle français is what you’ll hear most.)
Add how well with a small word before the language: Je parle un peu français (a little), Je parle bien anglais (well), Je parle couramment espagnol (fluently).
6. Asking the other person
An introduction goes both ways. Bounce each question back with Et toi ? or Et vous ?:
| Casual (tu) | Polite (vous) | English |
|---|---|---|
| Tu t'appelles comment ? | Comment vous appelez-vous ? | What's your name? |
| Tu viens d'où ? | D'où venez-vous ? | Where are you from? |
| Tu habites où ? | Où habitez-vous ? | Where do you live? |
| Tu fais quoi dans la vie ? | Que faites-vous dans la vie ? | What do you do (for a living)? |
| Tu parles anglais ? | Vous parlez anglais ? | Do you speak English? |
Asking someone’s age isn’t usually part of a first introduction with adults. Save Tu as quel âge ? for friends, kids and forms.
Examples
- Bonjour ! Je m'appelle Alex.Hi! My name is Alex.
- Je suis canadienne, et toi ?I'm Canadian, and you? (a woman: canadienne)
- Je viens de Moncton, mais j'habite à Montréal.I come from Moncton, but I live in Montréal.
- Je suis infirmière. Je travaille dans un hôpital.I'm a nurse. I work in a hospital. (no article before the job)
- Je parle anglais et un peu français.I speak English and a little French.
- Karim est marocain. Il est ingénieur.Karim is Moroccan. He's an engineer.
- Ma collègue est italienne. Elle est avocate.My colleague is Italian. She's a lawyer.
- Tu viens d'où ? Je viens d'Ottawa.Where are you from? I'm from Ottawa.
- Qu'est-ce que tu fais dans la vie ? Je suis étudiant.What do you do? I'm a student.
- Vous parlez anglais ? Oui, un peu.Do you speak English? Yes, a little.
- C'est un très bon cuisinier.He's a very good cook. (adjective added, so the article comes back)
- Ils sont mexicains. Elles sont mexicaines.They're Mexican. (men or mixed / only women)
- J'habite à Québec, au Québec.I live in Québec City, in the province of Québec.
Memory tricks
Your seven-line elevator pitchName, age, nationality, from, live, job, languages. Say it every morning for a week and it'll come out on autopilot.
The -e makes the last letter speakFrançais ends in a silent s. Add -e and the s speaks up as a z: française. Same with américain → américaine, where the n speaks up.
-ienne doubles upCanadienne, italienne, indienne: the n doubles, the nasal switches off. It's Lesson 1's bon → bonne, in a passport.
Jobs are adjectives in disguiseFrench treats your job like a description of you, like tall or tired. That's why there's no article: je suis grand, je suis infirmier.
Grecque keeps a souvenirGrec holds on to its c and adds -que, like keeping a souvenir from Greece. Its neighbour turc just swaps: turque.
From de, at àYou come FROM somewhere (venir de) and you live AT a city (habiter à). De looks back, à stays put.
Small adjective, big personElle est française (small, describing her). C'est une Française (big, she's a person). Back from Lesson 2.
Québec with or without the leNo article = the city (à Québec). With the article = the province (au Québec, le Québec). Same for de Québec vs du Québec.
Don’t get French fried
Build your introduction
Jobs, then nationalities, then where you're from and the languages you speak.
Il est ___.
He's a nurse.
After il est, a job takes no article.
Elle est ___.
She's a nurse.
-ier → -ière for a woman.
C'est ___ bon avocat.
He's a good lawyer.
After c'est, or when an adjective is added, the article comes back.
Elle est ___.
She's Mexican.
Add -e for a woman. Now you hear the n: mex-ee-ken.
Elle est ___.
She's Brazilian.
-ien → -ienne, with a double n.
Elle est ___.
She's Swiss.
Already ends in -e, so nothing changes.
Elle est ___.
She's Turkish.
-c → -que: turc → turque.
Elle est ___.
She's Greek.
The odd one: grec keeps its c, then adds -que.
française: the s sounds like…
Français ends in a silent s. Add -e and it wakes up as a z: fran-sez.
canadien → canadienne: what changes in the sound?
Lesson 1: double n + e switches the nasal off. Ka-na-dyan → ka-na-dyen.
Je viens ___ Ottawa.
I come from Ottawa.
De becomes d' before a vowel.
J'habite ___ Vancouver.
I live in Vancouver.
Cities take à.
Je parle ___.
I speak French.
Languages are lowercase.
C'est une ___ de Lyon.
She's a Frenchwoman from Lyon.
Here it's a noun, a person, so it takes a capital.
Tu viens ___ ?
Where are you from?
From where = d'où.
Polite: what do you do for a living?
Vous form: faites-vous.
I'm retired. (a woman)
Retraité takes an -e for a woman.
A good answer to « Qu'est-ce que tu fais dans la vie ? »
The question is about your job or occupation.
Score: / 18
The whole lesson on one card
| Your introduction | Je m'appelle… · J'ai … ans · Je suis + nationality · Je viens de… · J'habite à… · Je suis + job · Je parle… |
|---|---|
| Nationality: add -e | français → française · américain → américaine · allemand → allemande · chinois → chinoise (the last consonant is now heard) |
| -ien → -ienne | canadien → canadienne · italien → italienne · indien → indienne · brésilien → brésilienne |
| Same for both | belge · suisse · russe · britannique |
| Special | grec → grecque · turc → turque |
| Jobs | Je suis infirmier / infirmière (no article) · C'est un bon infirmier (article back) |
| Where | Je viens de Toronto / d'Ottawa · J'habite à Montréal · à Québec = the city, au Québec = the province |
| Languages | Je parle anglais et un peu français · lowercase, and usually no article |
| Asking | Tu viens d'où ? · Tu habites où ? · Qu'est-ce que tu fais dans la vie ? · Vous parlez anglais ? |
Your turn to talk
Now say your own version, out loud, one sentence per line of the template. Then record it on your phone. This is the opening of almost every French speaking exam.
Did it stick?
A fresh set. Each answer tells you why.
I'm an engineer. (a man)
No article after je suis.
She's a lawyer.
No article, and avocat → avocate.
He's Chinese.
Masculine: chinois.
She's Chinese.
Add -e: chinoise (the s now sounds like z).
She's Indian.
-ien → -ienne.
She's Russian.
Already ends in -e.
Je viens ___ Montréal.
Coming from = venir de.
J'habite ___ Québec. (the city)
The city takes à. Au Québec means the province.
I speak a little French.
Un peu goes before the language.
a man from Québec
A person = a noun = capital letter.
« Tu fais quoi dans la vie ? » means…
Dans la vie = in life, as an occupation.
Elles sont ___.
They're Italian. (women)
Feminine plural: italienne + s.
Score: / 12